Creeper attachment for crutches or canes



March 28, 1950 D. A. DESSO, SR, ET AL 2,501,890

CREEPER ATTACHMENT FOR CRUTCHES' OR CANES Filed March 17, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 l I N VEN TOR: Da vzkADessQ J):

March 28, 1950 D/A. DESSO, SR, ET AL 2,501,890

v CREEPER ATTACHMENT FOR CRUTCHES OR CANES Filed March 17, 1947 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTD RN EYE Patented Mar. 28, 1950 CREEPER ATTACHMENT FOR 'CRUTCHES 7 ORI CANES David Al Desso, Sr., and ..George F. White, Somers, Conn.

Application Marchsl'l, 1947;: SerialNo. 735,120

3 Claims.

This invention relates to' improvements in. crutches, canes and the like, and more-particularly to the provision of means to: prevent such.

devices from'slippingon, wet or icy surfaces.-.

The usual crutch is provided with a rubber ball at its lower end which provides stability on dry surfaces where there is a certain amount 'of However, when frictional resistance available. the surfaces are .:wet;-.icy; or otherwise slippery, the rubber ball Lisa-handicap rather than an aid, and the person using a crutch or cane for support is at a decided disadvantage.

It is, therefore, an object of this invention to provide a device which can be readily and conveniently attached to a crutch or cane by a few screws and a wrench.

A further object is to provide a device Which.

can be easilyattached to a crutch, cane, or the like, said device having a surfacegripping member whichcan be actuated by afinger of the user.

These and other objects are attained by the novel construction and arrangement of parts hereinafter described and illustrated by the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof, and

in which:

Fig. 1 is a side view of a device embodying the invention applied to a crutch.

Fig. 2 is an end view of the device.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged view showin means for manipulating the device.

Fig. 4 is a view showing details of the device.

Fig. 5 is a View showing a guide used in the device.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view of the gripping member.

Fig. 7 is a plan View of the gripping device shown in Fig. 6.

Figure 8 is a sectional view taken on the line 8-3 of Figure 1.

Referring to the drawings, the attachment for crutches, canes, and the like, is shown to comprise a plate I which can be attached to a crutch or cane by screws 2, and having channeled guide flanges 3 (see Fig. 5). The plate has two holes or apertures 4 and 5 for a purpose hereinafter explained.

Slidably positioned in the channels 3 is a plate 6, having a yoke l to which is pivotally connected a lever 8 having a finger piece 9. At the lower end of the lever 8 is a U-shaped member ll having a pin iii adapted to enter either of the holes 4 or 5. A coil spring ill connected to the plate 6 and lever 8 and constantly urges the lever out from the plate 5, so that the pin l2 will normally engage one of the holes.

Attached to the plate 6 is a block l3 having connected thereto by riveting or other means a rod M, the lower end thereof having connected thereto a block l5. Stiff rods I 6 and I! are secured to the blockl5-by set screwsor the like.

The rods l6.and I tare guidedby members l8- which are-attached to the crutch or cane.

Thelowerends of the'rods l6 and I! are positioned in recesses l9and20 which are formed' in agrippingmemberil, and the rods are held 1 The grippingy' member H can be made ofrrubber or metal, and,

therein byqset screws or the like.

has aiplurality ofsurface gripping teeth or corrugations "22, Figure 6.

In'operation, when th user of a crutch o1" cane encounters a slippery surface, it is only necessary to press down on the finger piece 9 to place the pin l2 in the lower hole 5, which'brings the gripping member in' contact with theslippery surface. Whenthe-surfac is dry, the finger piece Qis raised so that the pin l2 enters the hole. 4 :and is'thus maintainedwhereby the usual rubber "ball at the end of the crutch or cane is applicable."

Therfinger piece-.9 iSTSO located that "it can be:

easily manipulated without losing a grip on the crutch, and the device obviously can be adjusted for crutches or canes of any length. The device is sturdy and dependable and can be carried on a crutch at all times, and used in any em rgency if caught in a storm or icy weather.

The above description is to be considered as illustrative and not limitative of the invention, of which modifications can be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims.

The invention having been described, what is claimed is:

1. In a gripping device for a crutch, a first plate provided with a pair of spaced apertures secured to said crutch. a pair of spaced, parallel guide flanges projecting from said first plate and secured thereto, a second plate arranged in superposed relation with respect to said first plate and mounted for sliding movement between said guide flanges, a lever pivotally connected to said second plate, a pin operatively connected to the lower end of said lever for registering engagement with 5 one of the apertures in said first plate, manuallyoperable means on the upper end of said lever for causing pivotal movement of the latter and for sliding said second plate along said first plate, resilient means operatively connected to said lever and to said second plate for normally biasing said pin into one of said apertures, a gripping member slidably mounted around the bottom of said crutch, said gripping member being provided with a plurality of teeth mounted for movement into and out of frictional engagement with a horizontal surface, and means operatively connected to said second plate and to said gripping member for causing movement of the latter in response to movement of said sec- 60 0nd plate.

2. In a gripping device for a crutch, a first plate provided with a pair of spaced apertures secured to said crutch, a pair of spaced, parallel uide flanges projecting from said first plate and secured thereto, a second plate arranged in su perposed relation with respect to said first plate and mounted for sliding movement between said guide flanges, a lever pivotally connected to said second plate, a pin operatively connected to the lower end of said lever for registering engagement with one of the apertures in said first plate, manually-operable means on the upper end of said lever for causing pivotal movement of the latter and for sliding said second plate along said first plate, resilient means operatively connected to said lever and to said second plate for normally biasing said pin into one of said apertures, a gripping member slidably mounted around the bottom of said crutch, said gripping member being provided with a plurality of teeth mounted for movement into and out of frictional engagement with a horizontal surface, and means operatively connected to said second plate and to said gripping member for causing movement of the latter in response to movement of said second plate, said last-named means comprising a block secured to said second plate, and a pair of spaced stiff rods interconnecting said block to said gripping member.

3. In a gripping device for a crutch,. a, first plate provided With a pair of spaced apertures secured to said crutch, a pair of spaced, parallel guide flanges projecting from said first plate and secured thereto, a second plate arranged in superposed relation with respect to said first plate and mounted for sliding movement between said guide flanges, a lever pivotally connected to said second plate, a pin operatively connected to the lower end of said lever for registering engagement with on of the apertures in said first plate, manually-operable means embodying a finger piece on the upper end of said lever for causing pivotal movement of the latter and for sliding said second plate along said first plate, resilient means embodying a coil spring operatively connected to said lever and to said second plate for normally biasing said pin into one of said apertures, a gripping member slidably mounted around the bottom of said crutch, said gripping member being provided with a plurality of teeth mounted for movement into and out of frictional engagement with a horizontal surface, and means operatively connected to said second plate and to said gripping member for causing movement of the latter in response to movement of said second plate, said last-named means comprising a block secured to said second plate, and a pair of spaced stiff rods interconnecting said block to said gripping member.

DAVID A. DESSO, SR. GEORGE F. WHITE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 404,303 Remillard May 28, 1889 862,455 Dunkel Aug. 6, 1907 970,497 Harding Sept. 20, 1910 

